Designer lofts without the hassle at Kissel Kar Lofts

Kissel Kar Lofts

AtProperties’ Pamela Holt knows new-home buyers are busy people. Most don’t have the time or desire to spend hours scrutinizing over paint chips and fabric swatches when they buy a new home, so she decided to simplify buyers’ often stressful process of selecting finishes at Kissel Kar Lofts, the conversion of a Near South Side auto factory into 32 timber lofts.

Holt, whose Real Estate Chicago group is marketing the project, worked with designers and developers to establish three different “themes” in which buyers can finish off their lofts. “Depending on how you see yourself, how you see your personal style, and how you want your home to look, you can select from one of the three themes and they sort of create interior design moods,” Holt said.

The “zen” package, which includes finishes like bamboo floors, porcelain bathrooms and Asian-inspired window treatments, is designed to be “calm and serene,” Holt said. “Urbane,” on the other hand, offers a “grittier” and “edgier” atmosphere with concrete countertops and slate bathroom walls, and the “contempo” design scheme includes more traditional finishes like granite countertops, marble bathrooms and dark wood floors.

“People, especially people who are newer to the market, buy spaces and then they say, ‘what am I supposed to do with this? What’s it going to look like? Am I doing the right thing for resale? What should I get that’s standard? Should I upgrade?’ We’ve taken all those questions out of the stress and the anxiety of buying and put these packages together,” Holt said. “So you get a designed unit for the price of a regular unit.”

Within the packages, Holt said there is still room for buyers to customize things like colors. “We don’t want people to think they’re going to open the door and the neighbor across the way is going to have the same home,” she said.

One- and two-bedroom lofts in the building will feature timber ceilings and beams, exposed brick walls, ceiling heights of 14 to 17 feet, and exposed piping and ductwork. High ceilings on the top floor of the three-story building allowed developer Dwayne Lawrence to add a mezzanine level, and Holt said those units also have exposed trusses and structural support for additional character. On the first floor, two live / work condos have 1,760 to 2,300 square feet and private entrances. All the homes have a new balcony or deck, and the development will also include an exercise room and computer room.

Renovation work, including the construction of a new north wall on the building, is scheduled to begin in the fall, with deliveries beginning in summer 2008. Prices range from the $160s to the $480s (including parking on most units), and Holt said five units have already sold. AtProperties may open an on-site sales center in the fall.

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